A New Year Covenant Prayer

The Covenant Prayer From John Wesley's Covenant Service , 1780,

"I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

While many superstitiously eat black eyed peas for prosperity or noodles for long life in the New year, devout Methodists have been prone to invoke the Holy Spirit with a Covenant Prayer and service. John Wesley issued a pamphlet in 1780, entitled: The Directions for Renewing our Covenant with God. The Covenant prayer included in this pamphlet appeared in most Methodist writings in Britain but was excluded from the Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America, published in 1784 by Wesley for his followers in the new United States. As a result, the Covenant Prayer became a common part of the service in the Methodist churches of the British Commonwealth but the covenant service is little known in the States. This is unfortunate because the covenant prayer and service are considered to be one of the most distinctive contributions of Methodism, and used from time to time throughout the holy catholic church. Ignoring the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer and Service is tantamount to ignoring olive oil and garlic in they're role in southern Italian cuisine. The Covenant Prayer and Service add a special flavour to our spiritual identity as a denomination.

My personal interest in the covenant Prayer? Our bishop was due to come for a Covenant Renewal service but as we have had almost three feet of snow in the last seventy two hours and many were traveling, it was deemed best to cancel. I would have missed the service regardless as my employment obligations conflicted with the timing, but nonetheless I have prayed the prayer, meant it and am still scratching my head as to what exactly I am being called to do besides what I am already doing. It's a clear as mud, or as the name of this blog, a smokey quartz crystal. Blessings to you this brand new year.

Burning

I was thinking about the drought we are having in NW Pa with many plants drying up and dying. The Lord spoke to me and said," it only takes a spark to get a fire burning"….I am praying for the spark. I am ready to be set on fire.

In the Book of Exodus, the burning bush miracle performed by God on Mount Horeb informed Moses of his call to ministry.
Moses looked at the bush from the side. Maybe to shield his eyes from the brightness, maybe to see if there was something hidden causing the burning, you know to check to make sure...are you sure this is you God? Until a voice spoke to him from the bush saying, “Remove your sandals. You’re standing on holy ground.” What would you do if you encountered a talking burning bush? Moses took off his shoes and listened. Instead of being consumed by the fire of an angry diety, Moses found that God was with him.

When Mount St. Helen's erupted in the 1980's everything that was consummable was burnt up by the hot gasses and firey lava pouring down the mountain slopes. The mountain remained, the vegetation gone. The burning bush however, was not consumed by the fire. It was of the Father and the Father spoke to Moses through it.

When the Holy Spirit sets us on fire, everything that is not of the Father burns away, our vices, pride, ego, things of the world and culture that numb us. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to purify us so that as John Wesley said, " I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn."